CHAPTER TEN

My breathing is ragged as Cameron gently unveils the truth to me, “What? My dad - My dad knew?”

Cameron gives me an uncertain look, “I thought you knew. Jason insisted I take you as my mate and that’s why my family was so furious. I couldn’t take another mate after Maria. I was told not to touch you unless I gave you the mating mark as well. The way Jason spoke about things, he implied that you were aware of your circumstances and were eager to come here.”

“Jason said that?” My head is reeling at the wound of my own father’s betrayal. “Your family - did they -?”

“I told them today,” he says, heavily.

“So, my life is just a game to all of you?” I feel my body growing heavy. “You, Ness, Vivian, Michael, Jason, my father, all of you think I’m some piece of meat to be tossed around?”

“T-That’s not true,” Cameron protests.

My heart aches and I hold out my hand, “Give me a phone. I want to talk to my dad.”

“You’re not allowed contact-”

“I am a living breathing being!” I scream at him, my face wet with hot tears. “I have a family. I have people who love me and who I love. So, give me a phone so I can ask them for help! I’m not something that can be sold and - and -”

My breathing is ragged, and I can’t get words out of my mouth so when Caedmon presses the cold cellphone into my hand, I dial the number with shaking fingers before pressing the phone to my ear.

“Daddy?”

My father picks up on the first ring.

“Danielle?”

He sounds shocked.

“Dad, what is going on?” I begin to babble, watching Cameron walk out of the room. “Dad, they said you sold me! It’s a lie, right?! You wouldn’t do that to me.”

I’m half laughing and crying, “You love me. You wouldn’t sell me-”

“You shouldn’t have called, Danielle.”

My stomach sinks, “No. No, you didn’t. You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t ever call here again.”

“Dad, they hit me! They hurt me! Daddy, please-”

“This is your fate, Danielle. You are making a huge sacrifice-”

“Dad? Dad!”

I can hear the hysteria in my voice, “Dad! Dad, don’t leave me here! I’m your daughter! Dad, please!”

My father’s voice is hard on the other end of the line, “I have always taught you to do what’s best for our pack. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

I sink to my knees, crying and clutching on to the phone like it’s my only lifeline, “Daddy, p-please! I’ll do whatever you say! Just take me home!”

“This is your home now,” he says, harshly. “Don’t ever call here again!”

I hear the dial tone as he cuts the call and my hand goes limp, my body wracking with sobs. I hear the door open and then a pair of arms are helping me on to a chair.

“I’m sorry, Danielle,” Cameron whispers.

I look at him with my tear drenched face, “What’s going to happen to me now?”

He looks guilty, “Let’s not talk about that.”

“If I don’t get the mating mark in another week-”

However, he refuses to discuss that, and it occurs to me that he knows more than he’s telling, including the fate that awaits me.

As I watch him leave, I realize there are only two people who might be able to give me a clear answer at this point.

*

“What happens if you never receive a mating mark?” I ask, slowly, my voice heavy, despair in every breath I draw. The phone call from my father has managed to take away every last bit of hope from me.

Sila and Cassie exchange a look before Sila says, slowly, “Danielle, I don’t think-”

“Just tell me,” I say, quietly.

The silence that follows my plea is finally broken by Cassie’s tight voice, “They’re demoted to concubines, mistresses, or breeders.”

My hands begun to shake, “So they can’t - they’re not reassigned?”

Both girls shake their heads, grimly, “Never. That’s why matings are so successful here. Even if a female is unhappy, she will do everything to make it work, even if it means taking abuse at the hands of her mate.”

My tongue is dry in my mouth, “So what happens to me then? Cameron can’t give me a mating mark because his Luna already died.”

Cassie looks away and I see a guilty expression on her face and my stomach sinks, “What is it?”

“No, it’s noth-”

“You know something,” I say, my voice alarmed.

The two of them wince and my hands tighten around the cup of tea in my hands, “Please.”

It’s Sila who finally speaks, lowering her voice, “Look. It’s just rumours, okay? I don’t know anything for sure. But my older brother, he works in the Alpha’s office. He heard from someone that Jason saw you a few years ago, probably when you were fifteen, I guess.”

She looks sick as she speaks, “Apparently, he took a liking to you. So, when your pack suffered food shortages because of the rainstorms a few months ago, he reached out to your Alpha.”

Shock filters through me, “He wants me as his mate?”

Both girls exchange a look before Cassie says, hesitantly, “That’s not it. Unless an Alpha finds his true mate, whoever he gives his mating mark to is always a political decision. You’re not from a powerful family so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t mate you. The Elders would have never allowed it.”

I feel confused and even more worried, “So why-?”

Their silence gives me a sinister answer, “He bought me. He bought me knowing he can’t mate me, and he gave me to someone who can’t take another mate.”

My breathing is growing shallower as panic begins to set in, “If Cameron - If Cameron can’t give me the mating mark, then I can become his concubine. The Alpha - Jason can take me as his concubine.”

Concubines and breeders are the lowest of the low in a pack. They can be traded and abused without anyone batting an eye.

My despair is reflected in Cassie’s eyes, “He thinks you will let him because better that than a breeder.”

“This was all planned?” I gasp, feeling betrayed in the worst way possible. “My father knew about this. He let me be sold off. He knew the fate that awaited me. He knew this was all a trick and he still did this to me.”